Iliusha: he has a long road ahead of him

"Mom, how many more medicines and treatments am I going to need?", the six-year-old Illiusha asked. And his mother didn't know how to tell him that he's going to need them his entire life... Her son has a serious illness which has no cure, but which can be treated. The person can adjust to living with this illness and remain stable for many years. However, to do that, one has to have an entire arsenal of medical equipment and multiple medications which must be taken every day. IIlia is already old enough to understand that he must fight for his life every single day. That, if he does not follow all the treatment recommendations, he will feel worse and can even die. Ilyusha is fighting. But he needs our help. 

At this time, his condition has worsened. The chest CT scan showed new bilateral bronchiectases, and he has a lung infection as a result. Ilyusha needs a course of IV antibiotics in a hospital, to dampen down the infection and prevent further lung damage. But the antibiotics to which this infectious organism is sensitive are not affordable for his family, and his mother is asking for our help to cover the cost.

Besides the antibiotics, for the daily home treatments to be effective, IIlia also needs a few pieces of medical equipment: a bactericidal lamp and a sterilizer, and also a special breathing exercise device, and a home trampoline for the physical therapy exercises.

Cystic fibrosis is an illness which requires life-long treatment, and continuous effort from the entire family, without any breaks. One cannot take any vacation from it. Ilyusha has already been very ill many times during his six and a half years of life, and his family's resources have been drained because of that. Therefore, his family is asking for our help. All of us together can help them pay for the medical equipment and medications they need right now (besides, Ilyusha will be using this equipment for many years to come), and his family will be able to take a deep breath in the meantime and to muster all their strength to continue the fight, because they still have a long road ahead of them.

Name: Cherepkov IIlia, 30.05.2012

City: Dniprodzerzhynsk

Diagnosis: cystic fibrosis with pancreatic insufficiency